Letter of Doom

posted by Ismail Farouk at Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Labels: 2010, Bertrams, Citizenship, gentrification, urban research, world cup

Bad Buildings, Urban Management and Crime Control: The Case of the Fashion District

posted by Ismail Farouk at Sunday, February 24, 2008

Case Study by Ismail Farouk for the Migrants Rights Monitoring Project, special report No.2: Migrant Access to Housing in South African Cities. Report by Jennifer Greenburg and Tara Polzer, Forced Migration Studies Programme, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Fashion District in downtown Johannesburg is a contested inner city space. Despite signs of economic development, the ownership of many buildings is disputed, infrastructure is crumbling and levels of crime have long been high. The predominant business activity is controlled by Ethiopian and Eritrean asylum seekers and refugees who have taken control of high rise 'bad buildings' and adapted them to limit interaction with the dangerous sidewalk. The organisational structure within these buildings presents an innovative model for inner-city community-based crime and urban development management.

At the forefront of these initiatives is a refugee-run NGO called the 'Horn of Africa Crime Stop Association' which was formed after an Ethiopian trader was killed during a robbery in 2006. Through partnerships with the South African Police Services and the Central Johannesburg Property Company, the organisation is paying for supplementary security services which consist of 25 private guards who patrol an 8 block radius. The monthly cost to the organisation is R150,000, to which every trader and formal business in the area contributes. As a result, crime has been drastically reduced and business in the area is booming.

South African investors and chain stores are beginning to notice the business potential of the area served by the Horn of Africa Crime Stop Association, now that crime has been controlled. The development value of the area is on the increase and there is much activity by private sector housing companies who are redeveloping residential buildings for middle class South African families. However, for the Ethiopian and Eritrean businesses which started the crime-stop initiative, their success at starting the urban regeneration process may lead to their displacement. Many of the businesses are run by people who have not been able to access asylum or refugee documents, due to backlogs at the Department of Home Affairs' Refugee Reception Offices. This means they are unable to secure formal tenure or ownership of buildings, have no access to loans or local government economic development support, and are in practice confined to small geographic areas in the city for fear of being arrested and deported. In spite of the Horn of Africa Crime Stop Association's substantial private investment in security, its members and businesses are in danger of being pushed out rather than integrated into the future of the Fashion District.

Labels: Citizenship, Community, fashion district, gentrification, immigrants, Informal, informal trade, Johannesburg, migration, refugees, social networks, spatial justice, urban research

Mistrust: Contemporary Visions of Southern Africa

posted by Ismail Farouk at Wednesday, November 21, 2007

I submitted this image called 'Mistrust' for the Contemporary Visions of Southern exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum. It was taken in Yeoville in 2004 and it formed part of my research project which looked at the mapping of social networks in the suburb.

Here is a link to more from the Yeoville 2004 photo set.

Labels: Citizenship, Creative Response, Exhibitions, gentrification, Johannesburg, Network Approach, Photography, social capital, social networks, Yeo, Yeoville

Teaching: Market Photo Workshop

posted by Ismail Farouk at Friday, November 09, 2007

I've started teaching a course at the Market Photo Workshop in Newtown. My class focuses on developing an understanding the city using multi-burst photography and digital animation as rhythm analysis tools.

The cost of a basic studio flat starts at R400 000. Whilst this may not seem like a huge sum of money for property these days, the price excludes most of the existing tenants. In fact, 60% of the building has already been vacated and the remaining leases are not being renewed.

The developers have already sold 80% of their show units. Whilst this is very impressive, I am not sure how many new investors are initially planning on living in the building themselves. I think its a case of initially buying to rent and waiting for the wider redevelopment of the city to make an impact before moving in.

The Ponte Development presents an interesting case study of gentrification in the inner city. It demonstrates the vision for the redeveloped inner city, primarily as a place for formally employed South Africans. I left my students thinking about questions around 'the right to the city'. Where to from here for those who are not desired?

Labels: Citizenship, gentrification, Johannesburg, Ponte, Projects, urban research